GLAZED BEETS

I sometimes buy golden beets instead of red beets.  The golden beets have a bit of a milder taste and are easier to peel and cook as there are no beet stains.  I had bought a bag of golden beets at Costco over a month ago and I wanted to cook up the last remaining four beets.  Instead of using vinegar you could use maple syrup or brown sugar.  I would probably use less than two tablespoons of sugar.  The beets did glaze nicely and the DH and company enjoyed them as part of the supper meal.

INGREDIENTS:

4 golden beets

2 tbsp maple flavoured balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup apple juice

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Clean the beets, quarter them and cook them in a covered dish in the microwave for ten minutes.  Drain, let cool, then peel them and slice into small pieces.  

On medium high heat, add the beets, vinegar and apple juice to a medium size frying pan.  Once the liquid starts to boil, reduce heat to low, stir occasionally and cook for ten minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste. There should be minimal liquid left in the plan as the beets are starting to glaze.  Serves 4 to 5.

SLOW COOKED POT ROAST

I have a few cookbooks by Dana Carpender.  She focuses on low carb recipes.  One of her cookbooks focuses on using a slow cooker.  In making this recipe, I used tomato soup instead of diced tomatoes and the cut of beef was around two pounds. I didn't reduce the volume of liquid.  The roast turned out wonderful and was enjoyed by all.

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/2 pounds beef roast such as a sirloin tip
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, sliced or coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
1 cup beef broth
1 tsp beef bouillon
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 small can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Options:
Replace the can of diced tomatoes and cup of beef bouillon with a can of tomato soup, one can of water used to rinse out the can of tomato soup and 2 tsp beef bouillon.

DIRECTIONS:

In a heavy frying pan, sear the beef in the oil until browned all over.  Transfer the beef to the slow cooker. Scatter the onions and garlic around the beef.

In the frying pan, stir the broth, bouillon, vinegar and rosemary.  Pour the mixture over the beef.  Season with salt and pepper.

Cover the slow cooker, set to low and cook for eight hours.  When ready to serve, scoop the onions out with a slotted spoon and pile them around the roast.  Serves 8.

Adapted from 200 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes by Dana Carpender.

WHEATLESS CHEESECAKE WITH A PECAN CRUST

It has been a long time since I made cheese cake.  I have been looking at this recipe from the Wheat Belly book and decided to make it.  It turned out really well and the DH had seconds.  Instead of using ground pecans for the crust, you could use ground walnuts or almonds.  I used pecans.  You can also make this into a chocolate cheesecake by adding 1/2 cup cocoa powder to the filling.  As with cheesecakes, you can add berries, chocolate shavings or fruit preserves when serving.   I baked this cheesecake in a convection oven and for the last ten minutes I lowered the heat to 300 degrees F.

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups of ground pecans

1/3 cup splenda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

16 oz light cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup splenda

dash of sea salt

3 eggs

juice of one lemon 

1 tbsp grated lemon rind

2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. 

Making the crust:  Combine the ground pecans, splenda and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Combine.  Add the egg, butter and vanilla.  Mix thoroughly.  Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate.  Spread the crumb mixture 1 1/2 to 2 inches up the sides of the pan.

Making the filling:  Combine the cream cheese, sour cream, splenda and salt in a large bowl.  Blend well.  Add the eggs, lemon juice, zest and vanilla.  Using an electric mixer, beat at low speed for a minute to blend.   

Pour the filing into the crust.  Bake for about 50 minutes until nearly firm in the center.  Cool the cheesecake on a rack.  Chill before serving.   Makes 6 to 8 servings.

BATHROOM ACCESSORIES

We have had to make some adjustments to how toilet paper is provided in the bathrooms in our home.  This is not a new issue in this household.  I wrote a column about it a few years ago describing the dog's toilet paper fetish.  When the dog was younger, his desire to run around with a toilet paper roll in his mouth caused some minor renovations to be done on the bathroom.  I also admit that I have a toilet paper fetish.  When there are less than six rolls left in the house you would think there is a major crisis going to happen.  That is a rare occurrence as I am usually on top of monitoring the supply and restocking the stash of toilet paper.

Toilet paper is bought in bulk - either a 24 or 36 roll package.  A few rolls are kept in each of the bathroom cabinets while the rest is stored in the basement.  This Spring I noticed that the toilet paper and paper towels being stored in the basement were bearing marks of something trying to shred the packaging.  The packaging was being torn and the paper towels were starting to get shredded.  After dealing with throwing out some of the rolls, we purchased two large rubbermaid storage totes and one was used for storing paper towels and the second one for toilet paper.  I thought I fixed this one.  I outsmarted the invisible paper towel and toilet paper culprit.  Of course I knew who the culprit was.  He has four legs, has fur and weighs about 14 pounds or so.

The toilet paper fetish moved from the basement to the bathroom.  We would find shredded toilet paper on the floors of the bathrooms and a good part of the paper from the roll would be lying on the floor.  After this occurred a number of times, my patience was becoming limited.  The toilet paper came off of the holder and was placed on top of the toilet tank.  I now have a new decorative bathroom accessory that hangs on the wall and has no purpose.

The new bathroom accessory. 

That change didn't deter the culprit.  The shredding continued.  I had to make decorating changes.  The question was how to store the toilet paper roll in the bathroom and make it accessible to the user.

Rubbermaid has many uses.

Plastic containers are not just for storing food.  They have many uses.  This particular container is one I have had for years and it is round and nicely holds the roll.  I could't find a similar container for the other rolls in the other bathrooms when searching multiple stores.  Square containers are the norm these days so I bought square containers and have to squeeze the toilet paper roll into the container when using a new roll so that the lid can be snapped on.  After the roll gets used and smaller in width, the challenge disappears.  

I hope the culprit doesn't maintain this fetish for too long and bathroom life can return back to normal.

The culprit.

VEGETABLE BLACK BEAN SOUP VERSION 2

I posted a vegetable soup a few years ago with black beans.  This recipe is a bit different.  It does not include corn and uses less black beans.  It is a good recipe to make for lunches and of course I will be taking this soup to work as part of my lunch.  I used my pressure cooker to make this soup and cooked it for 17 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

1 - 19 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 tbsp oil
3 medium sized carrots, chopped
2 -3 zucchini, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp cumin
8 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in a large soup pot.  Add onions, garlic and celery and saute for five minutes on medium high heat.  Lower heat if vegetables are started to brown.  Add a little bit of water if vegetables are sticking.

Add beans, carrots, zucchini, broth and spices.  Cover and simmer for about an hour.  Stir occasionally.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Makes 8 servings.

Adapted from Meal Lean i Yumm by Noreen Gilletz

PRUNE NUT MUFFINS WITH ALMOND MEAL

I recently bought the Wheat Belly Cookbook.  It has a number of interesting recipes.  I modified one of the recipes and made muffins using a loaf recipe.  I also made some substitutions.  Instead of using dates, nutmeg and cloves, I used chopped prunes and all spice.  The muffins turned out great.

Prune Nut Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/3 cup almond meal/flour

1/3 cup ground flaxseed

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cloves

½ tsp salt

¾ cup chopped pitted prunes, chopped

½ cup pecans, chopped

2 eggs

1 egg white

¼ cup oil or melted butter

½ cup milk or buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or use paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix the almond meal, flaxseed, baking powder and soda, spices and salt.  Add the nuts and prunes.  Stir to combine.

In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, egg whites, oil or butter and milk and beat lightly.

Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix to combine.  Spoon in the muffin tin cups.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until done. 

Modified from The Wheat Belly Cookbook

BONNIE STERN - APPLE COBBLER

A Bonnie Stern recipe usually does not require much tweaking.  Such is the case with this apple cobbler from her book "Friday Night Dinners".   I included my tweaks in the ingredients and did change the amount of sugar she used in the topping.  I thought the sugar could be reduced so I made the change in the ingredient list.  I used pink lady apples but any variety would work.  I used nine apples as some of the apples had bruises so I peeled an extra one to make up for the parts that had been cut away while peeling the apples.  Of course this cobbler was wonderful and the DH and company enjoyed it.

INGREDIENTS:

8 apples, peeled and thin - medium slices
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg or cardamon
1/2 cup sugar or splenda

Topping

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown or white sugar or 3/4 cup splenda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
pinch salt
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

DIRECTIONS:

Place apples in a large mixing bowl and toss with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.  Butter a 13 X 9 inch baking pan and spread the apples across the baking pan.

Using the same mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Make a well in the dish and add the eggs.   Combine the eggs the with flour until it is a crumbly texture.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the apples.  Drizzle with the melted butter.  Bake in a preheated over at 350 degrees F for 45 to 55 minutes or until the apples are tender.   Makes 8 to 10 servings.

FLAVOURED BALSAMIC VINEGARS

I must admit, I have gone overboard with a recent love.  This summer I stopped in at a specialty store that only sells olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tapenade, and olives.  The store is located in another city not far from where we live.  I had heard about this store but had not had the opportunity to visit it.  When I walked in and saw the variety of oils and vinegars I thought this experience was going to be much better than a store that sells chocolate or kitchen gadgets.  Their feature of buy five bottles and get the sixth one free was also a very good selling point.  And did I buy.  This store called Oliv has since opened at location close to where we live.  Using flavoured vinegars and oils has replaced any thought of using store bought salad dressings.

I have been using the vinegars and oils on much than just salads.  I only photographed four of the balsamic flavours that I use.  Besides garlic, cilantro, coconut, chocolate raspberry and maple, I have developed relationships with sesame ginger, cherry and grapefruit balsamic vinegar.

To give you some examples of what is possible with these vinegars consider this:
-toss cooked green beans with sesame ginger vinegar
-add sesame ginger vinegar to stir fries
-add sesame ginger vinegar to cooked vermicelli noodles
-marinate uncooked steel head trout or salmon with maple vinegar
-toss shrimp with coconut vinegar while sautéing the shrimp
-drizzle maple walnut or caramel ice cream with maple vinegar
-thaw frozen fruit and drizzle it with chocolate raspberry vinegar
-use chocolate raspberry vinegar in place of chocolate sauce
-add garlic cilantro vinegar to beef marinade
-drizzle any of your favourite vinegars on popcorn

I especially like drizzling fruit with chocolate raspberry vinegar.  It helps with the chocolate craving.  You can also add a tablespoon of some of the fruit flavoured vinegars to smoothies.  I am sure that there are many other foods that would go well with flavoured vinegars.

BARLEY, BEAN AND SWEET POTATO SOUP

This is another one of my favourite soups.  The combination of vegetables, barley and sweet potato makes a great soup.  Instead of cooking this soup in a pot on the stove, I used an electric pressure cooker.  I didn't saute the vegetables but added everything to the pressure cooker pot and cooked it for 21 minutes on medium pressure.  My pressure cooker has three gauges - low, medium and high.  For the beans I used dried navy beans.  You could use canned beans and of course reduce the cooking time.

All the ingredients added to the pressure cooker. 

Barley, Bean and Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup dried white beans (navy or pea)

3 cups water

2 tsp canola or olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

3-4 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1 coloured pepper, chopped

8 cups broth or water

4 carrots, chopped

1 medium sized sweet potato, chopped

1/2 cup pearl barley

1 tsp dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Soak beans in water overnight.  Drain water and rinse well.  Heat oil in a large soup pot to medium high.  Saute onions and celery for five minutes until golden but not overly brown in colour.   If heat is too high, reduce to medium or medium low.   Add zucchini and pepper and cook for five minutes longer.   Add water if vegetables are starting to stick.  Add remaining ingredients except for the salt.  Cover the pot with a lid.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for two and a half hours.   Stir occasionally.  Add salt when finished cooking.  Serves 8 to 10 depending on portion size.

Adapted from Meal Lean i Yumm

HONEY CAKE

It can be a bit of a gamble at times when you make a recipe to take to a dinner party and it is the first time you have ever made this particular recipe.  There can be some risks that the recipe won't work, the cake doesn't rise or it tastes awful.  This didn't happen for me when I made a new recipe for a honey cake.  The cake rose, it didn't crumble when taking it out of the bundt pan, the bottom was not burned, and it tasted wonderful.  I made a few changes with the ingredients.  I didn't have orange juice so I used 1/2 cup of whisky and 1/4 cup of lemon juice.  I cut down on the sugar and used 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup splenda instead of the full amount of sugar.  The original recipe called for 1.5 cups of white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar.  I also dusted the cake with icing sugar once it cooled down.  In fact I dusted the cake with icing sugar the following day after baking.  I baked the cake early one evening after work, I made sure it cooled down before wrapping it with saran wrap and the next day I sprinkled it with icing sugar before taking it to the dinner party we were invited to.  It is recommended to make honey cake the day before you serve it to allow for the flavours to develop.

Batter mixed and ready to be poured into the pan.

I used a bundt pan to bake the cake.

Cooling after coming out of the oven.

I dusted the cake with some icing sugar after it cooled down.

Serving sliced pieces of cake.

HONEY CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

cooking spray

3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 sp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup canola oil

1 cup honey

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup splenda

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup strong brewed coffee (decaf is fine)

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup whiskey

DIRECTIONS:

Place an oven shelf in an upper position in oven, and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 10-inch fluted tube pan (such as a Bundt® pan) with cooking spray.

In a bowl, whisk together the unbleached flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg until thoroughly combined. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the canola oil, honey, white and brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, coffee, orange juice, and whiskey. With an electric mixer, beat the flour mixture into the honey mixture just until the batter is thoroughly incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake on upper shelf in the preheated oven until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs, about 1 hour.  Cool for 20 minutes in the pan before turning the cake out onto a serving platter.

Adapted from allrecipes.com